Board as of
13 September 2026
Dated reports on what has changed for plug-in solar in the UK, what is still open, and which document each change came from. Updated when the documents are, not when the vendors are.
SI 2026/848 amends the Plugs and Sockets Regulations and the ESQCR. The maximum rated AC output is 800 watts.
Since 27 August 2026G98 covers Great Britain only. DESNZ has said applying the product specification in Northern Ireland is subject to further consideration.
No date setUntil this date, you can follow either the old planning rules or the new ones.
Until 27 August 2027We do not predict what regulators will do next, and we do not report rumours as news. Every entry here is dated from a document that exists and that we have read. Where something is expected but has not happened yet, we mark it upcoming until it does.
It took from a code modification proposal in April to everything commencing on a single day in August. The last four months moved much faster than the twelve before them.
The Energy Networks Association raises Distribution Code modification DCRP/MP/26/02, seeking to amend Engineering Recommendation G98 to allow plug-in solar to connect.
The IET and BSI publish Amendment 4 (2026) to BS 7671:2018. It may be implemented immediately. The previous version is withdrawn six months later.
DESNZ publishes the first Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification. It is later withdrawn and superseded, and copies still circulate stamped Withdrawn.
DESNZ consults on amendments to the Plugs and Sockets Regulations and on the Interim Product Specification. It runs for two weeks.
Respondents raise batteries, leaseholder and landlord consent, older wiring, and how the standards would apply in Northern Ireland.
DESNZ publishes its response and the Interim Product Specification Version 2.0. The exclusion of batteries is retained despite objections that it reduces payback.
What the documents say, including some detail that other coverage has missed.
The instrument came into force, the G98 amendment took effect, and the permitted development right for solar equipment changed. The third of those has had almost no coverage. It is the change that decides whether a given home can go ahead.
Read what changedThe updated permitted development right prohibits plug-in solar fixed to wooden walls, balconies and timber cladding. Most people know this product as balcony solar.
Read the detailRespondents argued that excluding batteries reduced consumer payback. The exclusion was kept. Plug-in battery systems and solar integrated with batteries remain outside the approved class.
Read the detailG98 applies to Great Britain only, the ESQCR amendment does not extend to Northern Ireland, and the department has said applying the specification there needs further consideration.
Read the tracker entryWe send one email when there is real news: the open question, or the 2027 deadline, moving. Otherwise, we send nothing.